Background
The ongoing coronavirus crisis caused a tremendous disturbance to the world and the healthcare system. Inadequate preventive measures led to a surge in the number of infected people and deaths worldwide. Furthermore, the high hospitalization rate and shortage of clinical staff resulted in sleep disturbance among medical personnel. Moreover, many ethical norms were violated by some hospital administrators.
Research objectives
The first objective of this project was to determine the global insomnia prevalence among clinicians and review the health issues associated with disturbed circadian rhythm. The second objective was to discuss the ethical problems related to hospital staff management during the pandemic.
Causes of Increased Workload and Sleep Deprivation among Healthcare Workers
Two main reasons for increased hospital workload are poor staff management and incompetent governmental measures for viral spread prevention. For example, 90% of evaluated countries failed to demonstrate timely responses (Ibrahim et al., 2020). Moreover, inadequate management in healthcare institutions resulted in the worsening of the problem. Specifically, poor staff support from hospital administration caused burnout among healthcare workers (Challener et al., 2021). Therefore, it is essential to develop methods for lowering the workload for clinicians to reduce medical errors.
Prevalence of Sleep Disturbance among Clinicians during the Pandemic
The prevalence of sleep disturbance among clinicians increased significantly during the pandemic. When the coronavirus crisis started, some Chinese hospitals published data about increased insomnia among nursing staff to 39%, as shown on this map (Sagherian et al., 2020). An online survey among American nurses showed that 40% of the participants had mild to moderate insomnia (Sagherian et al., 2020). The global prevalence of sleep disturbance was found to be 43% (Al Maqbali et al., 2021). Insomnia elevated the prevalence of other physical and mental disorders among clinicians.
Biological Consequences of Sleep Disturbance
Mental and physical well-being determines the job performance of healthcare workers. Chronic insomnia was found to cause abnormal appetite, insulin resistance, weight gain, hypertension, and generalized fatigue (Kim-Godwin et al., 2021). Hospital staff often works long shifts and compensate for the lack of sleep with unhealthy nutrition that damages their health.
Ethical and Cultural Issues
Some healthcare organizations violated ethical values that affected medical personnel. For example, hospitals lacked enough personal protective equipment for the staff at the beginning of the pandemic (Turale et al., 2020). This situation was an example of a breach of the Code of Ethics that requires providing protection to employees (Turale et al., 2020). Moreover, the inability to provide emotional support to all patients caused depression among clinicians and a loss of trust in hospital leaders (Donkers et al., 2021). The pandemic was disturbing to all countries, but some healthcare organizations failed to provide workplace safety to hospital employees.
Some cultural beliefs may cause emotional disturbance among healthcare professionals. For example, age stigmatization still happens in hospitals, valuing younger personnel less than older workers, preventing managers from hiring young graduates, and resulting in a shortage of staff (Gharzai et al., 2020). Another type of stereotyping is the lack of understanding of this infection. For example, many healthcare workers who underwent quarantine measures were stigmatized, harming clinicians’ emotional well-being (Ramaci et al., 2020). Therefore, hospital managers should ensure that staff receives proper psychological support during the pandemic to maintain productivity.
Solutions for the Problems
Improving staff management should become the priority for healthcare organizations. Firstly, a support system for medical personnel required to stay in quarantine should be developed (Challener et al., 2021). Secondly, the hiring process should be improved to reduce the existing workload. Thirdly, governments need to develop a more efficient system for response to public health emergencies (Ibrahim et al., 2020). Overall, these three ways can help improve hospital staff management and improve employee performance.
References
Al Maqbali, M., Al Sinani, M., & Al-Lenjawi, B. (2021). Prevalence of stress, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 141, 1-18. Web.
Challener, D. W., Breeher, L. E., Frain, J., Swift, M. D., Tosh, P. K., & O’Horo, J. (2021). Healthcare personnel absenteeism, presenteeism, and staffing challenges during epidemics. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 42(4), 388-391. Web.
Donkers, M. A., Gilissen, V. J., Candel, M. J., van Dijk, N. M., Kling, H., Heijnen-Panis, R., Pragt, E., van der Horst, I., Pronk, S.A., & van Mook, W. N. (2021). Moral distress and ethical climate in intensive care medicine during COVID-19: A nationwide study. BMC Medical Ethics, 22(1), 1-12. Web.
Gharzai, L. A., Beeler, W. H., & Jagsi, R. (2020). Playing into stereotypes: Engaging millennials and generation Z in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Advances in Radiation Oncology, 5(4), 679-681. Web.
Ibrahim, M. D., Binofai, F. A., & MM Alshamsi, R. (2020). Pandemic response management framework based on efficiency of COVID-19 control and treatment. Future Virology, 15(12), 801-816. Web.